Furnace-charging system.



Patente'd May 6, |902.

A. B. W. HDGES.

FURNACE GHARGING SYSTEM.

(Application filed June 7, 1901.!

No. 699,525. Patented May 6, 1902.

' A. B. W. HODGES.

FURNACE CHARGING SYSTEM.

LApplication filed June '7, 1901.1 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

/I/I A A A A lllllpllglllvql/ll/l/lIIll/llI/lllll/l/I IUI m No. 699,525.Patented Mays, |902.

A. w. Houses. y

VFUHNCE CHARGING SYSTEM.

(Applicalion filed June 7, 19,01.) (Nu Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3.

ith-MEE STATES PATENT OEEICE.

ABEL B. YV. HODGES, OF GRAND FORKS, CANADA.

FU RNACE-CHARGING SYSTEM.

SPEClFlOATON forming part of-Letters Patent No. 69 9,52 5, dated May 6,1902. i

Appiicatiun ined June 7,1901. Sel-inno. 63,581. (umbau.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be n known that L ABEL B. W. notons,

lo and more especiallyto the feeding or charging of silver, lead,copper, or copper-matting furnaces, Which require to be fed with chargesof ore, coke, and flux from the side, top, or

end openings through which the charges are I5 introduced.

To this end the invention primarily contemplates a mechanicalfurnace-charging system comprising instrumentalities so constructed andarranged as to provide positive zo and reliable Ineans for charging thefurnace or furnaces in precisely the manner as may be required by thecondition thereof or of the contents therein. In other Words, theinvention comprehends mechanical means where# z5 by the desired chargemay be accurately placed throughoutthe entire interior area ofthefurnace oratanypoint or position therein, as may be required. 1

A further object of the invention is to util- 3o ize in connectionWithvthe system dump-cars or. carriers which are so constructedrelatively to the furnace or furnaces as toadmit of being filled orcharged'in strict conformity With the position to beoccu pied by thecharge in the furnace and i' comprising means for bodily dropping thecharge as an entirety into the furnace. y The invention also1 has inview the provision ofmeans whereby there is insured a more 4o evendistribution of the coke and ore throughout the furnace than is possibleby the ordinary hand feeding. This is especially yso when the furnacesare large and running fast, vand in the case of a matting-furnace whenthe top is likely to be hot the feeders in the ordinary hand-feedingoperation frequently when unwatched push the coke and charge into thefurnace carelessly and promiscuously.v This is entirely obviated by theimgo proved mechanical system of feedingor charging contemplated by thepresent invention, and, besides, a great reduction in labor isaccomplished, inasmuch as but a few hands are necessary to quickly andpositively operate the system.

It is Well understood by those familiar with copper-matting and similarfurnaces that at times 'a` furnace operates unevenly-as, for instance,the back end may not be 'properly working down the charge, consequentlyonly requiring a fresh charging at the front end. Also the condition ofthe furnace at one side may become bad, thus requiring a new charge onlyon the opposite side until the difficulty is overcome; and, again, itmay be desirous and necessaryat times to put more or less coke,limestone, or iron-ore in aparticular part of the furnace. contingenciesare met by the present invention on account of the same comprising meansfor depositing the charge in the furnace throughout its entire area orWithin any por-- tion thereof.`

Wfithgthese and many other objects in view, which will more readilyappear as the nature of the invention is betterY understood, thesameconsists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement ofparts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and

claimed.`

The fundamental feature of the invention involved in the provision ofmeans for mechanically charging thefurnace instrictconformity with theposition to be occupied therein by the charge is necessarily susceptibleto a Wide range of modification, and different All of the foregoinginstru mentalities may be employed for carrying out the system; but apreferred embodiment of theinvention is suggested in the drawings, inWhich- Figure l is a longitudinalfvsectional view of a furnace-plantequipped with the charging or feeding system contemplated by the presentinvention. Fig. 2`is a horizontal sectional vieW on'the line 2 2 ofFiggl; the line of section being immediately above the feed-door overWhich is arranged to travel the chargecarrier or dump-car. Fig. 3 is atop plan view of a form vof charge-carrier ordum'p-car which may beadvantageously employed in carrying out the system, theview alsoindicating the approximate dumpingarea'thereof With reference to thecross-sectional area of the furnace. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional viewIOO of the charge-carrier o r du mp-car on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig.5 is a detail sectional view,

v taken longitudinally of one of the charging- Theinventiou maynecessarily be carried l out in connection with different types offurnaces and modified accordingly to suit the position and nature of thefeed-openings for the furnaces, it being understood by those familiarwith the art that some forms of furnaces are provided with feed-openingsupon opposite sides thereof, others with feed-openings in opposite ends,and also in some furnaces, especially of the silver and lead-smeltingtype, the same are provided with no feedn doors on the sides or ends,but are in oommunication with long openings in the feedoor. These slightvariations in the styles of furnaces will not alfect the proper carryingout of the invention; but inasmuch as the laty ter possesses specialutility in connection with furnaces of the copper-matting type it hasbeen deemed sufficient for illustrative purposes to show the inventionas applied to this class of furnaces, the principle remaining the sainein all uses of the invention.

right matting-furnaces AReferring particularly to the drawings, the

ynumeral 1 designates a furnace plant such as usually employed forcopper-matting furnaces, and comprising in its organization a building2, housing therein one or more up- There are shown in the drawings apair of these matting-furnaces; but it is obvious that any number may beutilized in connection with the same sysl tem of charging.' Each ofthese furnaces is of the general form preferably employed for mattingpurposes. Furnaces of this type are generallyof an oblong rectangularshape in cross-section, as plainly vshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, andin the form illustrated in the drawings project above the plane of themain horizontal feed-floor 4, extending throughout the area within whichthe furnaces are operated. The portions of the furnaces 3 projectingabove the plane of the horizontal main feed-floor 4 are provided indiametrically opposite sides thereof with the feed-openings 5 which areusually covered and uncovered by suitable doors 6, indicated in dottedlines; and said feed-openings are disposed immediately above the planeof the main feed-Hoor 4 to permit of the passage therethrough of thecharge carrier or car 7, which is utilized in the system or apparatus Yto provide for conveying the charge of ore,

coke, dsc., to the individual furnaces and bodily depositing the chargetherein.

Although any successive arrangement or plurality of furnaces maybeobserved in carings, the separate furnaces 3 areshown arranged withinthe same longitudinal plane ot' the building and have extendingtransversely through and across the same and through the sidefeed-openings 5 thereof a track 8, the rails of which track are laidupon the main feed-floor 4 and are adapted to receive thereon the wheelsof' the charge carrier or cai-'7.

It is obvious that one or a number of charge carriers or cars may beoperated in connection with the system; but, for illustrative purposes,only one of said cars is shown in connection with the pair ofmatting-furnaces 3, yet in all uses of the invention the charge carrieror car 7 must bear a definite relation in size and shape to the furnacein order to admit of the furnace being charged to suit every conditionthereof. tails of each charge carrier or car 7 may necessarily varywithout affecting the invention, and, in fact, different styles ofAdump-cars may be utilized as the charge-car, provided the car is ofsucha construction as to effect the bodily droppingr of the charge into thefurnace in exactly the position to be occupied by said charge. Apreferred type of charge carrier or car is shown in the drawings, andthe generalcharacteristics ofsaid carare,first, the construction of thecar-body') of an approximate W shape in cross-section, thus providingthe car-body, upon opposite sides of the vertical longitudinal centerthereof, with separate side compartments 10, each of which com,partments is provided with outer and inner downwardly-convergent sidewalls 11 and 12, respectively, the slope of which Walls insures a betterdelivery of the charge into the furnace over which the car may be.centered. The separate side compartments 10 of the form of chargecarrier or car shown in the drawings extend the full length of thecarbody and-are provided with bottom dischargeopenings 13, adapted to becovered and vuncovered by the drop-doors 14, hinged at one edge, as at15, to the bottom edge of the inner side Wall l2 and normally thrown rtoa closed position when relieved of the weight of the charge through themedium of a weighted closing-arm 16. This weighted closing-arm 16 isdisposed at such an angle to the dropdoor 14 as to provide forautomatically closing the same after a charge has been dropped from thecompartment with which the doors are associated. The free unhinged edgeof each drop-door 14 is adapted to be engaged by the hooked ends 17 of aplurality of pivotal latches 18, which may be conveniently mounted upona common pivot-rod 19 and are Weighted at their upper ends, as at 20, tohold the hooks 17 normally engaged With the free edge of the drop-door.Each series of latches 18 has associated therewith a trip-rod 21, havinga handle 22 extending at one side of the car-body, whereby the operatormay The structuralde-- IOD IIO

conveniently release either series of latches. By this construction theseparate charges in the separate side compartments l0 ofthe carbody areindependently controllable by the operator.

The car details above described are not essential to the carrying outot' the invention; but it is desirable that the car-body be of the samegeneral form as the cross-sectional shape of the furnace, besides havinga dumping area approximately equaling the cross-sectional area of thefurnace. However, the car-body is somewhat shorter than the major widthof the furnace and also narrower than the minor width of said furnace,thus providing means for giving the proper spread to the ore and cokewhen dropped into the furnace, while at the saine time providing forcharging the furiiace throughout its entire interior area. Thesecharacteristics of the charge carrieror car are maintained in alladaptations of the invention in connection' with different styles offurnaces.

It is also important in carrying out the in-1 ven tion that the chargecarrier or car is properly filled or charged ,so that the coke and othermaterial shall be distributed evenly along the entirelength thereof. Inother words, it is necessary that means be provided for charging orfilling the carin strict conformity with the position to be occupied` bythe charge in the furnace. This may be accomplished through the mediumof different instru mentalities; but a practical construction is shownin the drawings, and it consists in providing the main feed-hoor 4 withan incline 23, upon which the track 8 is arranged and which slopesdownward from the plane of the main portion of the floor into acar-charging pit 25, the roof of which pit is formed by an auxiliaryfeed-floor section 26, provided therein with a pairof parallel fillingor distributing holes 27, constituting charge-apertures, arranged in thesame spaced relation as the separate side compartments l0 of thecharge-car and of a length equaling the length of such compartments, andproviding means for individually filling the separate compartments ofthe charge-car in conformity with the position to be occupied by thecharge in the furnace. The pair of parallel-spaced filling ordistributing holes 27 are disposed transversely to the track 8 in thesame relation as the furnace or furnaces 3, so that when the chargecarrier or car 7 is positioned in the pit 25, directly beneath thefloor-section 26, the said holes 27 will be arranged longitudinally ofand parallel with the separate' side compartments l0 of the car, andalso being disposed within the vertical plane of both sides of thelatter.

Any suitable means may be resorted to for operating the charge carrieror car back and forth through the furnaces and into and out of thecharging-pit 25. A simple and practical way of carrying out this part ofthe system is shown in the drawings and resides in the employment of anoperating-cable 28, ar-

pulleys 34 and driven from a suitable motor y orengine.Theoperatingmeansdescribed provides for imparting a comparatively rapidmotion to the discharge-car, whereby in the 4course of a few minutes thecar can nmake va complete trip in iilling a furnace and returning to thecharging-pit for refilling.

In further explanation of the manner of charging or filling the carrieror car itself it may besta'ted that when the carrieror car is inposition in the pit 25, directly beneath the filling or distributingholes 27, a helper first brings a weighed amount of coke in asuitablecar or buggy and rolls the same to the extreme end ot' one of thefilling or distributing holes 27. Ile then tips the coke buggy or caruntil a small portionbf the coke falls into the compartment of thecharge carrier or car below, and then additional helpers stand in frontof the coke-buggy and let only a small amount of coke drop out at a timeas the buggy is drawn backward over the entire length of the lling orcharging hole, thus providing means for perfect-ly spreading the cokethe entire length of the car. Should it be found desirable or necessary,suitable tracks or guides 36 may be provided upon opposite sides of theholes 27 to facilitate holding the coke and ore buggies to aftxed travelas they are drawn over said holes or apertures. After the spreading ofthe coke throughout the compartments in the manner described the ore isintroduced and spread in the same manner to complete the charge in thecharge carrier or car before the latter is moved into the furnace.

The operation just described is plainly illustrated in detail, Figs. 5and 6 of the drawings. From these igures of the drawings it is seen thatwhen the wheeler brings an amount of coke or ore in his buggy to one endof one of the charging-apertures 27 he dips or tilts the buggy until thenose or point thereof drops upon the floor and transversely bridges orspans the aperture or hole directly below. To secure an effectivedistribution of the charge it will of course be understood that thecharging aperture or hole is narrower than the buggy, so that the lattercompletely bridges or spans the aperture in the carrier filling orcharging operation. It has already been stated that an additional helperor helpers assist in the handling of the ore as it falls from the buggy;but it may be further explained that as soon as the buggy is tipped atone end of the charging-aperture some of the ore or iiuX necessarilydrops out; but as the where needed.

Wheeler draws the tilted buggy backward over the entire length of thecharging-aperture the additional helper with a shovel or other implementholds back and regulates the ore or linx as it falls from the buggy, soas to only let out sucient material to form an even layer along theentire length of the carrier or car. This is plainly indicated by theillustration of Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings.

From the foregoing it is obvious that if, for any reason, the charge isonly needed in the front end of the furnace the charge carrier or carmay be charged at the front end of each compartment and would thereforeprovide for dropping the charge in the furnace exactly Also should oneside of the' furnace get bad the charge could be dropped from one sideonly of the charge carrier or car, and likewise should it be desirableor necessary to put more or less coke, limestone, or iron ore in anyparticular part of the furnace the charge-car can be chargedaccordingly.

From the foregoing it is is thought that the operation of theherein-described system will be readily apparent to those familiar withthe art without further description; and it will be understood thatvarious changes in the form, proportion, and minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A furnace-charging system comprising in combination with the furnace,a chargecarrier having a charging area the size and shape of the area ofthe furnace, means for moving the charge-carrier, andcharge-distributing means comprehending a charging aperture or aperturesthe size and shape of the area of the charge-carrier.

2. A furnace-charging system comprising in ,combination with thefurnace, a chargecarrier having a plurality of compartments, thecombined dumping area of which approximately equals the cross-sectionalarea ofthe furnace, means for moving the carrier, andcharge-distributing means occupying a location above the carrier When ina position to be charged, said charge-distributing means beingconstructed to effect a distribution of the charge in the carrier inconformity with the position to be occupied thereby in the furnace.

3. A furnace-charging system comprising, in combination with thefurnace, a chargecarrier having a charging area the size and shape ofthe area of the furnace, means for moving the carrier, and means,disposed within the vertical plane of both sides of the carrier when inposition to be charged, for effecting a charging of the carrier inconformity with a predetermined position to be occupied by the charge inthe furnace.

4. A furnace-charging system comprising in combination with a furnace, acharge-carrier having a charging area the size and shape of the area ofthe furnace, means for moving the carrier, a charging-pit for the emptycarrier, and charge-distributing means arranged above the pit andcomprehending a charging aperture or apertures the size and shape of thearea of the charge-carrier.

5. In a furnace-charging system, the main feed-floor, the furnaceopeningthrough the said iioor, a track arranged on the fioor and extendingacross the furnace, a car-charging pit into which said track extends, anauxiliary feed-floor section constituting the roof of said pit andhaving elongated filling or distributing holes, a travelingcharge-carrier rolling on the track and having several compartmentscorresponding to said filling or distributing holes, and operating meansfor moving said carrier over the track.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two WitnessesABEL B. W. HODGES.

lVitnesses:

R. E. WISEMAN, J. HERoN

